Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Robin Hobb creates a magnificent world in this book. Nice character development and description. This entire series makes the Farseer Triology and the Tawny Man trilogy all the more enjoyable.I do recommend reading the Farseer Trilogy first, though. If you read that trilogy first, then the Liveship Traders and finally the Tawny Man trilogy (only 2 out so far) you'll appreciate the pieces much more.
Rating: 
Summary: Unbelievably slow and never picks up
Review: I almost never made it through this book. There were several times where I almost gave up on it. It moves very slow and while, there are some interesting things happening, not much of anything develops until the last two chapters. Even then, however, it doesn't deliver. It was pretty disappointing because I LOVED Robin Hobb's Assassin series. They are some of my favorite Fantasy books. So, it was quite a let down when I read this book. It's still written quite well and the characters are deep and unique, but the story just doesn't go anywhere. At this point I don't plan on reading the other books in this series and hoping that the Tawny Man series will resume what I liked about Robin's stories in the Assassin series.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, Not as good as The Farseer Trilogy, for one reason.
Review: In Ship of Magic, Robin Hobb continues the expansion of the world we were first introduced to in the Farseer. As usual, the characters are well written, and the plot is very strong. The only real problem, in my opinion, was in the telling of the story. In the Farseer trilogy, we follow the same character throughout, and are given glimpses of the world's history as introduction to each chapter. In the Liveship Traders, at least in Ship of Magic, the tale starts out relatively compactly with one human family in three locations, and pulls them all together, before expanding to follow specific family members in a confusing trail of individual plots. Add to this the journey of a group of sea serpents that seem to be unrelated to the main story. The number of plotlines that I can think of right off the bat are; Althea Vestrit, Ronica Vestrit, Wintrow Haven, Kyle Haven, Malta Haven, Keffria Haven, Brashen Trell, Kennit the Pirate, the Liveship Vivaica, the Liveship Paragon, and Amber. I suppose I should also add the Sea Serpents Maulkin, Shreever, and Sessurea. All of these characters are very well drawn and multidimensional, and each one has both admirable and less than admirable traits, still it is a very tangled web. The story starts with the quickening, or consciousness, of the Vivaica, a liveship that quickens when 3 generations of her family have passed a portion of their essence to her. A liveship also requires a family member, in direct bloodline, to sail upon her. Althea thought it would be her, but it turns out that Kyle has decided his son, Wintrow, an acolyte training for priesthood, will be the family member. Wintrow has no interest in doing so, but his father doesn't listen to his wishes. Kyle feels that Wintrow is quite lacking in manly traits, and has decided to make him a man. Althea, exiled from Vivaica, is following her plan to regain the captaincy of what she feels is her rightful ship. Vivaica has just quickened and is still trying to discover who she actually is. Kennit, the pirate, has decided that he wishes to be a king and wants to bring order to the chaos that is the Pirate Isles. To do this he feels he needs a liveship. From there the story just gets more interesting, as the characters follow their own paths, occasionally crossing paths with each other, in an interesting, unpredictable story. Though the plot scatters a bit more than I prefer, it is very interesting as Hobb weaves the separate thread into a pattern that has not yet come into view. The threads do begin to coalesce as the book winds down and the shape that seems just out of reach. I highly recommend Ship of Magic to anyone interested in a good story. The characters, the world, and the story are all very interesting. As usual Robin Hobb's writing is very refreshing.
Rating:
Summary: Far better than the Assassin books - stunning characters!
Review: This book - and the rest of the Farseer Trilogy - has all the qualities of the Assassin Trilogy - and then it's even better! The characters are vivid and stunningly described - all seem to come to life from the first page, but believe me, you do not know them before you finish the last page of book three. Hobb has gained a fantastic ability in making her characters realistic, and noone in these books are only good or evil - the stark black and white of the Assassin Trilogy - in these books, the characters change and develop, and those you first dislike might end up being those you admire the most - and vice versa. I can't wait for book three of the Tawny Man trilogy to be released - cause I won't torture myself by beginning on those books before I can read it all in one go! Once you've started, there's no letting go!
Rating:
Summary: There Must Be a Second Trilogy........
Review: After reading Hobb's Farseer Trilogy,and loving it, I forbore reading anything else by her until recently. I waited and bought all three of the Liveship Trader series and spent most of four days reading the entire series. It was gripping, involved and kept me wanting more. I sincerely hope Hobb follows this trilogy up with another set in the Rain Wilds and Bingtown. You come to hate then love many of the characters in her books. Characters are complex and intriguing and make the reader relate to them on many levels. Great Job!! Looking forward to more stories but please, don't let release dates between books keep us in agony.
Rating:
Summary: Helter Skelter
Review: Ship of Magic marks the first installment of one of the strangest fantasy series I have ever encountered. Robin Hobb manages to weave an intricate mixture of characterization and plot, making it absolutely impossible to construe which is the primary driving force behind her story. For the first one hundred pages, the resulting weave that is Ship of Magic is absolutely so Byzantine that this reader experienced an intense struggle to continue turning pages. Without warning, Ship of Magic became a helter skelter roller coaster ride. Which is it that grips the reader so viciously: concern and love of characters or an intriguing and addictive plot? Whichever the answer, Ship of Magic is a unique fantasy tale that deals with Bingtown's Old Traders. These are merchants who venture into tremendous generational debt in order to own a ship virtually carved from wizardwood called a liveship. Wizards and other normal fantasy devices do not reside in Ship of Magic. Instead, a world of serpents, pirates, cruel slavery, and political intrigue abound. In fact, the frame story that seems to encompass the Bingtown doings is a mysterious migration of serpents. What this has to do with Bingtown is an interesting mystery that is only hinted at within the first volume of The Liveship Traders trilogy. Robin Hobb is definitely a literary voice belonging within the realms of fantasy. Those who have never had the pleasure of reading her previous works should give the lady a try. When Hobb's magic boat does take off, the reading pleasure becomes highly addictive.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful and Enchanting
Review: "Ship of Magic" is overflowing with creativity on almost every page. The story centers around a city called Bingtown, which is known for producing liveships. Once a liveship has been owned by a family for three generations, it 'quickens' and gains consciousness, at which point the ship's figurehead gains the ability to move and speak. There are numerous other original elements in this novel. For instance, there is one group near Bingtown known as the Rain Wild Traders who have the exclusive right to trade in special gems and other magical goods. Only towards the end of the book do we learn what price they have to pay in order to deal with these items. Let me be clear about one thing: the elements of magic are not just gimmicks designed to grab the reader's attention. It's clear that the author, Robin Hobb, gave a great deal of thought to them when writing the book. She carefully considered what effects the ownership of a liveship would have on a family of Bingtown traders, and integrated this element into her story very well. In terms of plot, this isn't your standard 'good guys go on quest to defeat bad guys' fantasy novel. Hobb follows several plotlines and several different groups of characters as they travel around the world, and, in the process gives us an overview of a society in the throes of rapid change. The plot is full of surprises, such as a character who gets attacked by assassins right when he - and the reader - least expect it, and it is not at all predictable. There were several occasions where I thought that I had figured out what would happen, only to see Hobb suddenly take off in an entirely new direction. There is real suspense, not just corny melodrama, in numerous scenes throughout the book. There are a number of mysterious elements mentioned, where we are supposed to wonder where a certain character comes from, or what events happened to drive somebody insane. They aren't all neatly wrapped up at the ending, but that just builds our anticipation of the sequel. There's a love story in here too, of course, but it's developed with the same skill as the rest of the novel, and actually includes some of the best romantic scenes that I've ever read in any genre. "Ship of Magic"" is primarily a character-driven book. Much of the eight-hundred page length is taken up by long stretches of character-driven dialogue and internal reflections, so if you're the sort of reader who wants to see a swordfight every five pages, this probably isn't the book for you. If, on the other hand, you've been disappointed by the shallow characterizations in many modern fantasy novels, you'll probably find "Ship of Magic" to be a welcome change. While the heroine, Althea, is a likeable character, she isn't perfect. For instance, there's one point where she decides to go on a drinking binge at exactly the wrong moment, but she eventually redeems herself from her flaws. All of the other members of the Vestrit family, who are the main focus of the book, are developed with great care, and their behavior is realistic throughout the novel. As others have mentioned, the villains are one of the book's biggest strengths. There's no comic-book type evil arch-nemesis here. The bad guys have highly believable personalities, although that doesn't mean that you won't eventually come to loathe them wholeheartedly. Hobb also takes a huge risk by writing some sections from the point-of-view of the intelligent ships, while others are seen through the eyes of a giant sea serpent who lurks in the water beneath the action. These scenes provide a welcome and truly unique perspective on the events of the book. I would be negligent if I failed to mention that Hobb's writing is fantastic. It's clear that she put a great deal of attention into developing each paragraph, and it pays off. The descriptions in the book are beautiful, and you actually understand how different cities, or different sections of coastline appear to the characters. While anybody can write a scene set on a ship, only a talented author like Hobb can make us feel the conditions endured by sailors at sea, or experience the relief that they feel when returning home. The writing remains strong throughout, and it helps make "Ship of Magic" one of the most unforgettable fantasy novels I've ever read. Despite considering it for several days, I still can't think of anything negative to say about this book.
Rating:
Summary: Start of a fulfilling fantasy series
Review: Having immensely enjoyed Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy, I enthusiastically turned to her next fantasy series, the vast Liveship Traders trilogy. This first novel in the series, Ship of Magic, is set in the same world as the Assassin's Apprentice but otherwise has very little to do with it, instead focusing on a whole new and unique fantasy setting. Liveships are large masted sailing ships made of wizardwood that actually become sentient beings after three generations of their owner's families have died on board them. We follow various members of the Vestritt family, an Old Trader family who is in the unenviable position of trying to increase their trading profits before their creditors take harsh action. There are several main characters but chief among them is Althea Vestritt, a young lady who has spent most of her life sailing under her father's captaincy aboard the Vivacia. Upon her father's death in the early chapters of the novel, the Vivacia 'quickens' into a full-fledged liveship. Unfortunately, through a series of circumstances and inner family squabbling, Althea is not allowed to continue to sail on board her, thus launching the main story thread of the series. There are many well-drawn characters in this novel, but I always appreciate a good villain. Ms Hobb excels once again, with the introduction of Kennitt, an ambitious pirate who has his eye on Vivacia as his prize. To be able to write a villainous character whom the reader can sympathize with as he pursues his dastardly plots is difficult at best but Ms Hobb does it so well. And her good characters come across as very real also, not always choosing the wisest or most honest course. They stumble over bad decisions during their struggles to achieve their goals and we feel for their failures, often seeing ourselves within them. This is, fundamentally, a tale of the sea, albeit in a fantasy setting complete with magic ships and sea serpents. The ship board activity is well researched and fascinating to experience. This is a long book and is followed by two more long books in the trilogy. Where some see extra wording or too much detail or even refer to 'the doorstop syndrome', I see a richness of character that is essential in understanding these people. Besides, I just like spending time with them. While Ms Hobb provides splendid detail about some of the characters here, she only hints at others. We spend a little time with another liveship, Paragon, who is considered mad by the populace due to several incidents involving the deaths of his entire crew. It seems obvious that we are being set up for much more from Paragon, especially considering the title of the next volume, Mad Ship. We also get tiny scenes involving what appear to be sentient sea serpents, but, quite frankly, I found them to be confusing and so relegated them to the recesses of my memory in order to dig them out again as they become more relevant in future books of the series. Ms Hobb also prepares us for a major role by the Rain Wild magicians and their interaction with another headstrong daughter of the Vestritts, Malta. For those readers who prefer their plot lines wrapped up neatly, I would suggest they have all three volumes of this trilogy readily available. Not one of the major threads is resolved here. But for those who relish complex relationships that are not convoluted, this novel will be sure to please. I for one am searching my book shelf even now for number two of this fine trilogy.
Rating: 
Summary: An Original Idea....but
Review: I have been an avid reader of sci-fi and fantasy for nearly 50 years---I consider myself something of an expert. It was with great delight that I started this first book of the trilogy. There were some great new, inventive ideas...where would they lead? The author laid out some of these ideas and many, many mysteries which we knew were about to unfold. But who could hang on that long? I have finished all three books of the trilogy and in truth there is a good story here. You will find it in the first half of volume one and the last half of volume three. The rest is filler---it took me two years to trudge through it because I really didn't want to give up---but how many others would push through that. And then some of the mysteries---especially the who and what Amber is -- is a two sentence delivery as her whole purpose for being at the end. I can only imagine with the loose ends such as this left that it is set up for a trilogy sequel ... ouch.
Rating:
Summary: Avoid
Review: I'd never read any of Robin Hobb's books before, so I did not know what to expect. On the basis of this, I never plan to read any more. I hated this horrible book, and sold it off as soon as I could. I gave it two stars instead of one because Hobb does have some imagination and writing talent. But her book is full of stupid, unpleasant people doing stupid, unpleasant things to each other for stupid, unpleasant reasons. And as for the storyline involving Malta - Yuck! This girl is fourteen, and Hobb is female herself! Where the story can go from here I cannot tell and do not care. Avoid.
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